


Making a friend while couch surfing

by VentisetteStars



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Elias has a line or two like the creep he is, Gen, Jude and Mike referanced, Leitner comes up a few times, Melanie gets to stab something, Some minor georgie time, canon-typical s3 stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:20:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29451438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VentisetteStars/pseuds/VentisetteStars
Summary: Melanie drops by Georgie’s unannounced while Jon is in hiding there and meets her new boss who is wanted for murder. They bond. That's the story.
Relationships: Melanie King & Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Comments: 8
Kudos: 62
Collections: TMA Valentine's Exchange 2021





	Making a friend while couch surfing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [quantumducky](https://archiveofourown.org/users/quantumducky/gifts).



> Some Jon and Melanie forming friendship for the Vday exchange.
> 
> Also titles are hard xD

“Georgie know you’re wanted for murder?” Melanie sat fiddling with her phone after Georgie had left them alone to get cat food.

Jon froze like a deer in headlights. Melanie assumed that would be a no.

“Martin told me.” She continued. “I went in to talk to you about how things went in India and he told me that you were on leave on the account of murdering a man.”

“Oh, um, did Marin say- uh did he say he thinks I did it?”

“No. He doesn’t think you did it. For the record, I don’t think you did either. Whether or not you as a person were capable of murder, I highly doubt those arms would support such desires.”

“Thank you I think?” Jon seemed to relax for the first time since Melanie had been over.

“But you did run and are in hiding.” She shrugged. “So probably not helping you in the long run? Least from what I can gather, Tim either thinks you did it, or doesn’t appear to care if you're cleared of charges.”

“You talked with Tim about it too? It just some big party in the archives now that I’m out of the way?”

Melanie wasn’t going to bother Jon to unpack any of the mess that implied.

“Don’t be a prick. He mentioned it in passing. We got plenty of time for talking. I work there now, as an assistant, so you know. We chat in passing when Tim’s not avoiding everyone and vanishing to who knows where, just the normal friendly breakroom chat like things. ‘How's the weather? Isn’t it great our boss murdered a man in the room next door? Get wasted over the weekend?’ Standard office talk, I guess?”

Jon chuckled lightly. “Pretty standard academia break room chat.” Jon took a breath before he continued. “I’m so sorry, but that wasn’t the best move on your part, accepting a job-”

“So they say, but I also am able to make my own choices. I don’t need to hear it from you too.”

“Right, yes. I’ll- Right.”

The conversation went silent. Only sounds were the Admiral’s purrs and the noise of the radiator trying to bring some heat into the room.

“Doubt it will come up, but what did you tell Georgie?”

“Oh, I told her there was a workplace dispute,” Jon almost sounded proud of himself, least far as Melanie gathered. Jon might just talk like that though. “and that things were _bad_ , so it wasn’t safe for me to return to my flat for a while? But not much else.”

Melanie laughed. “ _Bad_ is a good way to put everyone is a total ass.”

“No, even Martin?”

“Well, in a ways. He’s at least kind about it? But they are both terrible at being welcoming in any way. You know I didn’t even get a tour of the place? No training or anything, just a ‘do whatever nothing matters’ from Tim and Martin being all ‘don’t mind him, but also kinda what we do right now’ and he offered a statement for me to record? I had to google what I should be doing with my position.”

Jon laughed. “Ah yes. Sounds like you got the same welcoming we did. Except well, there wasn’t anyone to show me the ropes. She was murdered and we found her a year later.”

“Shit, the place always got a murder as part of the welcome party?”

Jon tugged at his sleeves, more fidgety than to adjust the length. “Twice does seem to be two too many if you ask me.”

Melanie made an agreement noise. “Good to know you missing isn’t what made the welcome party lacking least. The whole department is a mess. So, any guesses who did?”

“I mean, Gertrude didn’t keep up with any logical organization-”

“No, I meant the murder, you know, the reason you are here?”

“Oh, No clue. I’ve got a hunch whoever killed Leitner might also the same person that killed Gertrude. Maybe they were aiming for me? But thought he was the new archivist.” Jon started to look a little panicked. “Oh god, that could’ve been-.”

“Hey, calm down. You’re safe if you follow that logic. If they think they got the head archivist already, they won't go looking for you. But that would really suck if that was the motive, but couldn’t you, I dunno, tell the police that rather than run?”

“I panicked. It was a long night leading up to that...” Jon buried his face in his hands. Running really was the last thing he should’ve done, but the thought of the sectioned cops.

“That checks out.”

Melanie’s phone went off and after looking at it she looked back to Jon. “Well, Georgie is on her way back. Assuming we are taking this conversation with us to the grave, we should find a new topic.”

“Yes. Thank you for keeping this between us. Jus if you need to tell her, I could find someplace-”

“Oh shut up.” Melanie groaned. “I don’t need you going all ‘I can be out of your hair’ like you’re a bloody hero protecting my friendship with her by whatever is happening in that head of yours.”

“That’s not what I was doing. But fine. For now we aren’t coworkers.”

“Okay. Good. We can talk details later. You got access to the internet here so make a Line account using bogus info so we can chat.”

Jon nodded and got out Georgie’s laptop he had been using to keep entertained last few days.

“Oh, you mentioned you came in to talk to me about your trip to India? What happened?”

“Ah, yeah, guess you are here now huh. Well, I got shot by a ghost.”

“You what?? Why didn’t you start with that?!”

\---

 **mini-boss** : I greatly dislike this username.

 **xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx** : come on it’s hilarious. You are tiny, and technically boss?

 **mini-boss** : we are the same height

 **xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx** : I never said I wasn’t tiny too.

 **mini-boss** : isn’t it too obvious of a name?

_[message from mini-boss deleted]_

**mini-boss** : HEY

 **xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx** : Nope, like hiding in plain sight. Besides, I use one of those plastic iPhones so I don’t break it. They would need a warrant for my phone.

 **mini-boss** : wasn’t that just a rumor? Or States only?

_[xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx is typing...]_

**mini-boss** : Melanie?

 **xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx** : Well thats grand. You getting caught will be the last of my worries then

 **mini-boss** : ????

 **xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx** : lmao I may or maynot have broken into some places for footage? Not that it matters much now, buuuut yeah

 **mini-boss** : I guess we’ve both got crimes then, cept the only one I didn’t do is the one I’m on the run for

 **xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx** : implying you’ve done crimes you haven’t been caught for?

 **mini-boss** : ...No. I’ve done no crimes ever and deny all accusations of such.

\---

Melanie sprawled on the floor while the Admiral chased the string that wiggled to her whims. Jon was in a blanket cocoon on the couch with a book. Georgie had left them alone again to meet with some sponsors and Melanie didn’t feel like leaving to deal with her roommate that night. She briefly mentioned something about a disagreement getting out of hand and she couldn’t stand to see them. Neither Jon nor Georgie pushed for details.

Jon stared at the page, it’d been a while since he’d turned a page, almost like he was stuck on a reading loop. “You know. I don’t think I’ve properly apologized to you for before.”

“Hmm?” Melanie rolled to her side and looked up at him. “Gunna need more context.”

“For when you told me about the Sashas. I was-” Jon paused as he looked for the right wording. “Rather rude about it when you came in.“

“Still don’t understand the context. Are you admitting to playing a terrible prank or something?”

“Ah, um. No. I really-” Jon at a loss for words again. “Well, Sash- the one that you interacted with a few weeks ago, _that wasn’t Sasha_. It was a creature that took her place, and basically what the creature does when it replaces a person, only a single person can tell.” Jon’s words started to run into each other as he spoke faster. “Which turned out to be you. _We couldn’t have noticed if it weren’t for you-_ I should have believed you when you were there. I didn’t start even looking into it till after you left- _We would’ve kept treating it like-_ ” Jon’s voice was getting shaky to the point where he stopped.

Melanie stood and went to the couch. “You mind if I sit next to you?”

Jon shook his head. “Not at all. Go ahead.”

Melanie settled in on the couch. “Right. So this not _your_ Sasha, tricked you? But not me? Why?”

Jon nodded. “I read some of the statements that shared the details of what it does. It only leaves one person to see it for it’s false hoods. It thrives on the exact interaction that happened when you tried to tell me about the other Sasha. For everyone else, it alters our memories to think that what the replacement looks like was how it always looked. It also acts completely different, but we just couldn’t notice... You are the only person can remember the real her...the real Sasha. All the memories, I and everyone else have with her are fake. I can’t even remember her real voice...”

Melanie could see the anger, the frustration building up behind the tears that were forming. She knew that emotion well, and in a small gesture opened up her arms to invite him in. Not enough to demand it, but enough he could take the offer if he wanted.

Jon did. In moments he was buried in Melanie, not quite sobbing, but tears of frustration made a wet spot on her shoulder.

“I could tell you about her sometime if you’d like. Unless that would hurt too much.” Jon didn’t respond so Melanie tried again after a minute passed. “Least whatever you did, it didn’t come back to the archives. You able to kill it?”

“...If only. I tried and failed pretty spectacularly, the whole incident ending with me here. It’s trapped in the tunnels. In stone. And it’s not getting out like it could when it was trapped in the table...”

Melanie was right. Anger wasn’t all Jon was feeling at this moment. “Good. I hope it’s miserable in there. It can suffer for a change.”

Jon nodded into her in agreement. They stayed like that for about a minute till Jon pulled away, looking a bit like a mess.

Melanie got up to get him some tissues and set a bin on the floor near him.

“Sorry. I- Some apology when you ended up needing to comfort me in the end. That was incredibly unprofessional of me.”

“Shush. This isn’t work. And you’ve got every right to mourn Sasha with all the tears your tired body can muster. I invited you into it anyway.” She handed him a tissue box from the nearby end table. “I bet you haven’t even stopped to really think about this thoroughly”

“I have…” Jon paused to take advantage of the tissues. “I have thought about everything a lot. I don’t have much else, but I’ll admit I might have forgotten to _feel_ while thinking…”

“Hm, emotional constipation. Common symptom of being Jonathan Sims.”

Jon raised a brow. “You say that like it’s a condition.”

“Yeah. Georgie mentioned the possible side effects of being alone with you awhile back so I wouldn’t need to check webMD or anything. Other things include having nibbled on pens, missing jumpers, and grey hairs appearing in brushes throughout the house. Nothing to be alarmed at, I’m told.”

The laughter that followed was accompanied by a few more tears that hadn’t made it out of his system.

\----

Jon spent a lot of time on Georgie’s couch. He was never the most active person, but this level of inactivity was making it hard to focus. He tried picking up books, but that only lasted a day or two. Using the internet was a way to kill time, but he found the total amount of options overwhelming.

Somehow that led to Jon watching some of Ghost Hunt UK videos, and led him to have opinions. The show was just as he’d expected from his first time meeting Melanie, full of cheesy acting and over reactions to nothing in the environment. It hit a cord of envy, making monsters where there were none, pure example material for him to base his skepticism on.

But for all the hoaxes, Melanie’s was an encounter. One he had brushed off like the others in his denial.

 **mini-boss** : if now is a bad time, feel free to ignore this till it is a good time, but I wanted to formally apologize for our interactions in the past. I don’t take back what I said about the show being what it was. I’ve watched it now so I can say I’m informed in my opinions, rather than just making assumptions as I did at the time. My apology is for not taking your encounter seriously. I shouldn’t have brushed you off just because of your background in the industry. It’s fine if you don’t forgive me.

 **mini-boss** : that last bit wasn’t to try and guilt you or anything, just saying you can still be mad if you want to.

 **mini-boss** : I’m not even sure if you’re mad still, I assumed?

 **mini-boss** : Right. Well either way, it still felt right to apologize for my actions

 **mini-boss** : sorry, I keep making this about me don’t I?

_[xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx is typing...]_

**mini-boss** : Sorry I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything.

 **xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx** : Just trying to get work done. My boss keeps blowing up my phone >:/

 **xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx** : Don’t stress over it. Still mad but water under the bridge. You gotta stop saying sorry for literally every interaction we’ve ever had

 **xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx** : Glad you recognized you were an ass. It’s progress

 **xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx** : Did you really watch it so you could tell me it sucked?

 **mini-boss** : Yes. I needed to know how much I would need to apologize for.

 **xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx** : christ you’re a mess

 **mini-boss** : wasn’t that established already with the whole 📚🔧??

 **xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx:** the heck 📚🔧mean? You act as though your codded message means something to me?

 **mini-boss** : Oh

_[mini-boss is typing...]_

**xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx:** I don’t want a novel. tldr it for me

 **mini-boss** : Fine the short is: Jurgen Leitner and collected cursed books until his library was attacked and caused his entire staff to be murdered while he ran. There is a tape I recorded of our interaction.

 **xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx** : A tape? Like in your office?

 **mini-boss** : should be? I didn’t take it with me, so it’s probably whatever tape is in the recorder last.

 **xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx** : A tape. In your office. That was recording for a long while? That has a solid Alibi for you leaving with a living dude and returned to one less so. and probably recorded EVERYTHING WHILE YOU WERE OUT TAKING A SMOKE. That tape?

_[mini-boss is typing...]_

**xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx** : Christ Jon how could you forget you had a tape like that!?

 **mini-boss:** could you look for it? It should be the last one there.

 **xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx** : how you expect me to just be in your office?

 **mini-boss** : work late tonight?

 **xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx** : This is a terrible way to pressure me into overtime. :/

 **mini-boss** : Please Melanie. If it’s still there…

 **xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx** : I’ll see what I can do. I’ll swing by after work.

\---

Melanie cursed under her breath as she worked at picking the lock to Jon’s office. Of course it would be locked. She hoped it was an old lock like the rest of the old things around, but much to her dismay it seemed that the lock was a little more sensitive then a lot of the places she would break into for Ghosthunt UK official business. Since she was going to have to come back anyway, she figured she might as well ask if Jon still had his key on him.

“Melanie, what are you doing?”

Melanie jumped to face Elias and dropped the paperclips she was using to try to open the door.

“Oh. I was trying to get into Jon’s office.” no point to try and act as though she hadn’t just been caught red handed. What was he even doing here?

Elias was quiet for a moment longer than Melanie liked. “There are keys for that sort of thing and I would appreciate it if you used them. I’m sure you’ve access to means of acquiring one?”

“If I asked you for a copy, do you have one?”

“I do, but it’s not something I can lend out as it’s a skeleton key for all the doors. Now I would like to be able to lock up the archives if you don’t mind? Until Jon returns I want to make sure it remains secure.”

“Right. Sorry for keeping you, I’ll be off then.” Melanie grabbed her things and made her way out with Elias locking the door behind her. Wasn’t that the guards’ job to lock up departments? She shot a quick message to Jon mentioning Elias’ creep factor from the whole encounter.

\---

Georgie’s couch wasn’t big, but it was enough for 3 adults and a cat to be comfortable to sit through a long movie. Jon had ended up in the middle of the other two for the movie, and Melanie found out exactly why Georgie had warned ahead of time to not suggest a movie she’d wanted to pay attention to. There were no exaggerations to ‘Jon tends to talk in movies’ that she was warned.

Melanie had suggested Phantom of the Opera if only to try and bother Jon, but she now felt played by Georgie as the movie was on pause and Jon was criticizing the movie and comparing it to the play.

It wasn’t unpleasant to banter back and forth with Jon. Heck felt oddly normal all things considered. Last many conversations had been about breaking into Jon’s office only, to not locate the tape. There was an empty recorder, so it was safe to assume the murderer or the cops had it?

But that didn’t matter as much at the moment. What mattered was defending the special effects from the movie weren’t lazy compared to the way to pull them off on stage. Jon very firmly believed that the stage rendition held more tension, while Melanie had only ever seen small productions of it, and the effects were mediocre at best.

Jon hadn’t actually seen any version performed, and admitted to watching it on youtube in college. But it counted still.

Georgie offered opinions as well, but half of them were teasing Jon and the other teased Melanie.

The movie ended up not being finished while the three spent the rest of the night going over embarrassing lore reveals that ranged from Melanie and Jon were both in theater club while in school, to Georgie and Jon trespassed backstage at a concert, first time was to prove they could, and the second time was since they figured out they could, they wanted autographs. They got them too, before security escorted them out.

\---

“Ah Melanie, Just the person I was looking for.” Melanie turned to see Elias holding an envelope. Had he just been waiting in the front door for her? “Could you return this to the Archives for me?”

“Sure. ” It was too early to deal with Elias. Since the whole Key thing a week ago, she’d noticed he tended to be a bit _off_.

“Great. Thanks. Keep up the good work.” Elias smiled and walked off.

Melanie looked at it and it seemed familiar. But were- “Shit.”

She took a picture of the envilope and sent it to Jon with a message.

 **xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx** : Why did Elias have this??

[attachment photo: Shows envelope with a small round stain from mug that looks like it had a little bit of something spilt on it, along with some barely visible writing that had been erased. The erased writing was Melanie’s handwriting from when she had grabbed something close when she and Jon were comparing something meaningless.]

 **mini-boss** : He shouldn’t have it. It was in my bag just the other day, but it’s gone

 **xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx** : I know its not with you, cause it’s here now. Have you been talking with him?

 **mini-boss** : no

 **mini-boss** : I’ve no idea how it’s gotten to him.

 **mini-boss** : Actually, All the statements I’ve gotten are missing…

 **xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx** : youve got more

 **mini-boss** : had more. I’ve been receiving them since the first week at Georgies

 **xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx** : And you didn’t find it odd?

 **mini-boss** : I did, but they’ve been too interesting to not pay attention to. They can’t be recorded digitally.

 **xX_Ghost_Stabber_Xx** : Right, well, think it’s safe to say Elias knows you are at Georgie’s and has been sending them to you, and somehow retrieving them??

 **mini-boss** : that’s not ideal.

\---

Jon showed up at Melanie’s flat, looking like death.

“I was wondering if I could borrow your first aid kit.” Jon was clutching his now severely burned hand.

“What the fuck did you do to your hand and why aren’t you at A&E?”

“Still wanted? It’s better than it looks?”

“Get in here.”

Melanie dragged him to the kitchen and told him to stay put, while she googled burn treatments and grabbed the first aid kit from the bathroom. Returning she started running through all the steps she found online. Comparing what Jon’s hand looked like to pictures online was enough that she was certain if she only had nightmares of this, she would be lucky.

Once bandaged best they were able to, considering Melanie’s flat wasn’t a hospital, Jon remained at the kitchen table while Melanie cleaned up the mess that was made.

“Want to explain how you got that, and why it looks like a hand?”

“Cause it is a hand? I ah- shook hands with a woman made entirely of Wax?” Jon almost didn’t sound like he believed it himself. “She offered a lead for some information, and only asked that I shake her hand in return.”

“She had better have made it worth it.” Melanie figured Jon was smart enough to not need scolded for this.

“It was. I hope. She told me where to find someone who might know more about everything going on. With me, and the Institute and Elias.”

“Mmhmm, Georgie was worried about you. Called me looking for you.”

“Least you didn’t have to lie to her since I hadn’t showed up yet?”

“You’re a pain, you know that?”

“I’ve been told.” Jon laughed in a way that lacked humor.

“Well, since you are here, you can borrow the couch. My flatmate is out with her boyfriend for a few days. Probably best you take it easy.”

“Thanks, but-”

“AND After you rest a bit, I’ll be coming along with you for that next lead.”

“You Can’t-”

“Nope. I’m coming along. Before you complain, I have a right to know what I’m working for. If the place is Evil as you told me, then I want to have the same proof you are getting. ”

“Fine. you can come along. I won't try to stop you.”

“Good. So, ordering take out and we are watching movies till you pass out.”

\---

Jon was gone in the morning and Melanie was furious.

\---

\---

Martin came down to the archives and looked more on edge than normal. “Um, Elias needs us in his office?”

Tim groaned. “Fuck him.”

“It’s seems important, Jon’s there and cops?”

“Shit, Are you serious.” Melanie got up from her desk and started to the door.

\---

\---

“Jon, you’ve literally got no other place to go.” Melanie stood in the doorway of the archives.

“Yes, but I could just stay at Georgies, she offered, or in the Archives till I can find a place. Shouldn’t take more than a month?”

“My Flatmate is moving in with her Boyfriend, so you pitch in for rent and your flat problems are cleared up. It’s a vacant room open for rent. Therefore it’s not me lending you a room, it’s you moving in. I don’t see a problem with it.”

“I suppose, but-”

“Christ do you always have to be this difficult?”

“Yes.” Jon was completely serious in his ton. “If I move in, it will be 24/7 this.” He gestured to all of him.

“Hm. Well either way, You can’t be worse than my last flatmate. She would microwave fish.”

Jon looked offended with Melanie.

“When you put it that way…”

“Mmhmm, Lets go talk to my landlord then track down your stuff.”

“Lead the way.”

\---

Melanie got home to the lights not working, the box must’ve tripped. She used her phone as a light to get to the kitchen for a better torch when she heard Jon and someone else talking. What she caught from the two was that the other wasn’t human. And it just attacked Jon.

She saw red and reached out for something, then next thing she knew, the strange figure was in front of her.

The knife entered plastic, and something else, but it wasn’t flesh. That didn’t make the creature happy at all, but Melanie didn’t care. Her mind was oddly clear, almost reanalyzing where to strike now that she was targeting plastic rather than flesh.

The creature didn’t seem to respond to the pain at all. Few swings later and a mannequin hand on the ground, the creature escaped through the window with the parting words of “Find us the Skin, Archivist.”

Melanie was surprised she wasn’t even out off breath after that, at least not really, and unpacking how easy it was to stab the thing was going to be for another night.

“Jon, you okay?”

“I’m, I’m okay. I asked one too many questions. That was, you were amazing.”

“Stabbing a monster is way easier than thought it would be. Let's try to get those lights on.”

\---

One run to the store for new lightbulbs, Melanie and Jon sat on the couch. Jon with an ice pack where Nikola had hit him, and Melanie staring at the hand Nikola left behind. It was currently pinned to a block of wood with some nails, in case it could still move.

“This is really my life now huh?” The events of the night began to settle in Melanie’s mind like a puzzle of the last 6 months.

“Yupp.” Jon winced out.

“Could be worse. Least not alone in all this.”

Jon remained quiet but nodded.

“We are going to tell the others about this, pissy as they might get and much as I know you don’t want them to know.”

“It’s not ideal for them to get any more involved.”

“Doubt them not knowing will be any safer. And I swear, if you so much as think about running away like last time-”

“I wont run. I’m, I’m tired of running.”

“Good. That can be a tomorrow problem. I grabbed ice cream while I was out and plan on downing the whole thing. You are welcome to join me.”

“That sounds nice. You want to pick what we watch since I did last time?”

“Only if you promise we finish watching it. You can’t spew random facts till at least half the tub of ice cream is gone.”

“Deal.”

**Author's Note:**

> It's very tempting to add more to this later. Had a power outage that really cramped my typing time so I didn't get everything added that I wanted to. So some side notes in the mean time:
> 
> \- Melanie and Jon would alternate who cooks after finding out they like each others cooking.  
> \- Jon doesn't steal Melanie's clothes like he steals Georgies' (and eventually Martin's)  
> \- I'd like to think while Jon could still end up kidnapped, it would only last a fraction of the time since having a roommate would make going missing more noticeable. 
> 
> I also enjoyed coming up with usernames for them. I can see it being a very non serious ordeal xD


End file.
